Speed varying gearing



March 25, 1947. w OSBORNE SPEED VAR'QI'ING GEARING Filed Aug. 16, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet l w .W w 1 w m5 m k N rm 7 m y m N w .l. Y I. B Q I 1 A? I A H i x 1 I i 4 & 7/ r H1 A Q a l I Q E: z: I N 4 H U WW inwwmrhh I 0 an 1 x 1% I I'M J Q L I 1 m Q b N \NQN N 5% N March 25, 194 7. w OSBORNE 2,417,944-

SPEED VARYING GEARING Filed Aug. 16, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. film/n5. 0550mm} Patented Mar. 25, 1947 LINKED STATES PATENT OFFICE SPEED VARYING GEARING William B. Osborne, Muncie, Ind.

Application August 16, 1944, Serial No. 549,754

3 Claims.

The object of my invention is to provide a variable speed transmission unit characterized by variable-lever ratchet mechanism.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention.

Fig. 1 is an axial section;

Fig. 2 is a transverse section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1 with the parts in low speed relation;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view similar to Fig. 2 with the parts in high speed position;

Fig. 4 is a view of the leverage-control plunger; and

Fig. 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

In the drawings It indicates an input shaft supported by bearing H in housing l2, Shaft It) carries a disc I 3 provided with an eccentric It, the axis of which is offset relative to the axis of shaft l9, Journalled by bearings IE on eccentric M is a wobble ring 16, the bore ll of which is concentric with an annular groove I8. Wobble ring it and the lower bearings I5 are held axially in place by a retaining ring 19 secured to disc E3 by set screws 26.

The output shaft 2| is aligned with input shaft 5 ii and its inner end is journalled in the adjacent end of shaft it. Interposed between shafts l0 and 2i is a one-way clutch 22 which prevents overrunning of shaft 2! relative to shaft ID, If free wheeling of the output shaft relative to the input shaft is desired, this overrunning clutch 22 may be omitted.

J ournalled on shaft 2! at 23 is a planet carrier 2% in which is journalled, parallel with the aXis of shaft 2!, three lever sleeves spaced circumferentially around the axis of shaft 2!. Each of these lever sleeves, at its end adjacent wobble ring it, is provided with a transverse slideway 26 which is radial relative to the axis of the sleeve, and slidably mounted in this guideway is the lever arm 2i provided at its outer end with a roller or pin 23 which projects into groove l8 of the wobble ring it and the axis of which is parallel with the axes of the lever sleeves and shaft 2|. Slide 2i is provided with a cross head slot 29 into which projects a pin 30 carried by the rotatable head 3i journalled in seat 32 in the lever sleeve 25. Integral with head 3! is an axial pin 33, the free end 3 3 of which is polygonal in cross section and symmetrical with the axis of head 3 I. A midportion of the bore 35 of sleeve 25 is rifled, as indicated at 36, and associated with this rifled portion is an axially sliding plunger 37, the exterior of which is rifled, at 38, to mate with the rifled portion 35, the pitch of said rifling being such that the limited axial movement of plunger I 31 will produce an angular movement of head 3! of degrees. polygonal bore 39 whichreceives the polygonal portion 34 of pin 33'. A spring ill, interposed between head 3i and plunger 31 normally urges said plunger to the right (Fig. 1), thereby positioning pin 30 relative to the cross head slot 29 so as to move roller 28 to its farthest position relative to the axis of lever sleeve 25, as shown in Fig. 2. Slidably mounted in the right hand end of the bore of each lever sleeve 25 is a piston M which engages plunger 37. Leading from an axial passage 42 in shaft 2! to the bore of each sleeve 25 beyond the free end of each piston 41 is a passage 43.

Shaft 2| carries a pinion 5B] which is meshed by the three gears 5!, one being journalled upon each of the lever sleeves 25 and connected therewith by means of a one-way clutch 52 which permits the gear 5| to rotate its sleeve 25 in the forward direction only.

The planet carrier 24, at the right hand end Fig, 1, is bored at 55 so as to clear pinion 5B and splined in this bore is a bearing sleeve 56 between which and casing I2 is interposed the one-way clutch acting to permit reverse rotation of the planet carrier 24. The output shaft 2| is supported in casing l2 by bearing 58.

Pressure, preferably hydraulic, is maintained against piston 4| arriving through passages 42 and 43 from a suitable source '50 (conveniently,

an oil pump of any well known form) through a pressure control valve 6! within the manual control of the operator.

The operation is as follows: Rotation of the input shaft ill, by reason of the eccentric l4, causes lateral reciprocation of the wobble plate i6 and the engagement of this plate with the rollers 28 causes reciprocation of the lever slide arms 21 and consequent oscillation of the lever sleeves 25. Each sleeve, during its maximum oscillation speed, acting through its one-way clutch 52 to rotate forwardly its gear 5! consequently rotates forwardly the pinion 22 of output shaft 2! When rollers 28 are more distantly positioned relative to the axis of their lever sleeves 25, wobble plate It will be able to exert its greatest leverage upon sleeves 25 but through the smallest arc of oscillation of said sleeves, the parts being therefore in low speed position. As the load torque decreases, the operator, by manipulation of the control valve 6! increases the hydraulic pressure against pistons M thereby driving plungers 31 toward the left (Fig. 1), rotating heads 3| so as to shift pins 30 to retract Plunger 3! is provided with a the lever arms 21 thereby decreasing their effective leverage but increasing their arcs of movement by the wobble plate 16 so that when maximum pressure is applied to the pistons 4|, and the lever plates 27 are in their minimum leverage but maximum arc positions, the parts are in high speed relation.

Any desired ratio between gears 5| and 56 may be adopted but I prefer one, which, when the lever slides 2'4 are in their high speed position, will tend to drive output shaft 2! by a speed greater than the speed of the input shaft so that, when this high speed relation is attained, the one-way clutch 22 will prevent overrunning of the output shaft and consequently the entire mechanism carried by the planet carrier24 will rotate about the axis of the output shaft and the several lever sleeves 25 will cease to'oscillate.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a speed-varying transmission unit, a variable-lever ratchet mechanism comprising a sleeve mounted for oscillation about its own axis and for revolution about an external axis parallel with its axis of oscillation and having a transverse lever-guide, a lever slidably mounted in said guide, an oscillable actuator journalled in said sleeve and connected to said lever to shift it in its guide, and means by which said actuator said guide, an oscillable actuator journalled in said sleeve and connected to said lever to shift it in its guide, means by which said actuator may be shifted, an input eccentric having an axis laterally ofiset relative to said sleeve, and a wobble ring journalled on said eccentric and connected with said lever.

3. In a speed-varying transmission unit, a variable-lever ratchet mechanism comprising a sleeve mounted for oscillation about its own axis and for revolution about an external axis parallel with its axis of oscillation and having a transverse lever-guide, a lever slidably mounted in said guide and provided with a crosshead slot, an oscillable actuator journalled in said sleeve and having an eccentric Wrist-pin projected into said crosshead slot, an axially-movable plunger mounted in said sleeve and associated with said actuator by an axially-slidable non-rotative connection, a helical slidable connection between said sleeve and plunger, and means by which said plungermay be axially shifted.

WILLIAM B. OSBORNE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are or record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,943,396 Quevrain et al Jan. 16, 1934 1,572,360 Petersson Feb. 9, 1926 2,142,976 Seidel Jan. 3, 1939 1,607,223 Wilcox et a1 Nov. 16, 1926 2,174,780 Dusevoir et a1 Oct. 3, 1939 

